JP2006085577A - Printing processing apparatus, printing processing method, printing processing program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing processing apparatus, a printing processing method, a printing processing program and a recording medium that enable an operation of printing processing on each printing object even when a print request is received for a plurality of printing objects. <P>SOLUTION: The printing processing apparatus, which in response to a print request received via a network, converts a printing object print-requested by the print request into print data and prints the print data to an image forming apparatus, has: a management information generation means for, in response to a print request for a plurality of printing objects, generating management information for managing first state information on printing processing on each printing object; an updating means for updating the first state information about each printing object in the management information according to the stage of printing processing; and an information providing means for providing the first state information about each printing object in the management information via the network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print processing apparatus, a print processing method, a print processing program, and a recording medium, and in particular, converts a print target requested to be printed in the print request according to a print request received via a network into print data. The present invention relates to a print processing apparatus, a print processing method, a print processing program, and a recording medium for printing the print data on an image forming apparatus.

  When printing a document stored in a terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer), a print instruction may be given via word processing software for editing the document. In this case, by browsing the spooler status using a tool attached to an OS (Operating System) or the like, operations such as confirmation and cancellation of the job status relating to the document can be performed.

  When printing a document managed by the document management server in the document management system, the circumstances are slightly different. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining printing processing in a conventional document management system. In FIG. 1, the document management system 500 includes a terminal 510, a document management server 520, a print server 530, and a printer 540. A terminal 510 is a terminal such as a PC directly used by a user of the document management system 500. The document management server 510 is a general document management server that manages documents. The print server 530 is a server that accepts a print request to the printer 540 and causes the printer 540 to execute print processing in response to the print request. In the document management system 500, the processing procedure for printing a document managed by the document management server 520 is generally as follows.

  The terminal 510 acquires document list information (document list) that matches a predetermined condition from the document management server 520, and displays the document list (S11). When the user selects one or more documents to be printed in the document list and issues a print instruction (S12), the terminal 510 requests the print server 530 to print the selected document (S13). The print server 530 generates a job in response to the print request from the terminal 510, and returns information for identifying the job, for example, a job ID, to the terminal 510 (S14). Note that the job here is a job corresponding to a print request on a one-to-one basis, unlike a job in a spooler. Further, the print server 530 acquires actual data of the document selected as a print target from the document management server 520 (S15), and causes the printer 540 to print (S16).

  Thereafter, the terminal 510 can inquire of the print server 530 about the status of the print processing corresponding to the print request using the job ID.

  However, since the print server 30 manages the job as a one-to-one relationship with the print request, the client side (terminal 510) obtains the print request even for a plurality of documents. The job list information to be printed is in units of print requests, and there is a problem that requests for status inquiries and job interruption or cancellation cannot be performed for each document.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a job list obtained on the client side in the past. In the job list 550 illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, the job 551 is a job based on a print request in which the document A and the document B are designated as print targets. Further, the job 552 is a job based on a print request in which the document C, the document D, and the document E are specified, and the job 553 is specified for the document G and the document H. However, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, since a job list for each print request is provided instead of for each document, only a batch operation can be performed for all documents related to one print request.

  Of course, after each document is converted into print data and the print data is input to the spooler, it is possible to operate each document by a tool attached to the OS (Operating System) or the like. However, when a large number of documents are to be printed, a certain amount of time is required until the print data is input to the spooler, and until that time, the job cannot be interrupted or canceled for each document.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can perform a print processing operation for each print target even when a print request related to a plurality of print targets is received. An object of the present invention is to provide a print processing method, a print processing program, and a recording medium.

  Accordingly, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention converts a print target requested to be printed in the print request into print data in response to a print request received via a network. A print processing apparatus that causes the image forming apparatus to print the print data, and generates management information for managing the first status information of the print process for each print target in response to a print request related to a plurality of print targets. Management information generating means, updating means for updating the first status information in the management information for each printing object according to the stage of the printing process, and the first status for each printing object in the management information And an information providing means for providing information via the network.

  Such a print processing apparatus can provide status information for each document even when a plurality of documents are targeted for printing in one print request. Therefore, it is possible to perform a print processing operation for each document.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a print processing method in the print processing apparatus, a print processing program for causing the print processing apparatus to execute the print processing method, or a recording medium on which the print processing program is recorded. It is good.

  According to the present invention, a print processing apparatus, a print processing method, a print processing program, and a recording medium capable of performing a print processing operation for each print target even when a print request for a plurality of print targets is received. Can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a print server 10, a document management server 20, a Web server 30, a terminal 40, and the like, each of which is a network (such as the Internet or a LAN). (Wired or wireless).

  The print server 10 is a computer that provides a function for causing the printer 50 to print document data or the like as a Web service, and includes a print service 11 in which such a function is installed.

  The document management server 20 is a computer that provides a document data management function as a Web service, and includes a document management service 24 in which the document management function is implemented. The document management service 24 includes a SOAP listener 21, a document management unit 22, a document management DB 23, and the like. The SOAP listener 21 is a module in which a function for enabling the function of the document management means 22 to be called by the RPC of SOAP. The document management means 22 is a module that provides an interface for operating document information stored in the document management DB 23. For example, the document management unit 22 registers a document acquisition method for acquiring document data from the document management DB 23, a document list acquisition method for acquiring document data list information, and registration of document data in the document management DB 23. It has a document registration method. The document management DB 23 is a database that stores document data.

  The Web server 30 is a so-called Web server that provides a Web page for using functions such as the print server 10 and the document management server 20, and includes an httpd 31, a Web application 32, a SOAP proxy 33, and the like. The httpd 31 is a daemon program that controls HTTP communication with the terminal 40. When the httpd 31 receives an HTTP request from the terminal 40, the httpd 31 calls the Web application 32 corresponding to the URL specified in the HTTP request, and transmits the Web page output as a processing result by the Web application 32 to the terminal 40.

  The web application 32 is a so-called web application whose main function is to generate a web page. The Web application 32 makes a predetermined processing request to the print server 10 and the document management server 20 as necessary, and generates a Web page that displays the result. For example, the Web application 32 generates a Web page (hereinafter referred to as “document list page”) that displays a list of document data managed in the document management DB 23 of the document management server 20.

  The SOAP proxy 33 is a module that provides the Web application 32 with an interface for calling various methods implemented in the print server 10 and the document management server 20 by means of SOAP RPC. The SOAP proxy 33 enables the Web application 32 to call the method of the functions of the print server 10 and the document management server 20 transparently without being aware of network communication.

  In the figure, the Web application 32 is shown as one block, but there are a plurality of instances. For example, the source code is implemented for each module for generating a document list page and other modules for generating other Web pages.

  The terminal 40 has a communication function such as a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital (Data) Assistants), or a mobile phone that provides an interface (Web page) for the user to use the printing system 1 by the Web browser 41. It is a terminal.

  In the drawing, the terminal 40 and the printer 50 are shown as one block, but it is not intended to be physically limited to one terminal or printer. As with a general information system, a large number of terminals and printers can be connected.

  Next, a hardware configuration example of the print server 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the print server according to the embodiment of the present invention. The print server 10 shown in FIG. 4 includes a drive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103, an arithmetic processing device 104, and an interface device 105 that are connected to each other via a bus B. The

  A program for realizing processing in the print server 10 is provided by a recording medium 101 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 101 on which the program is recorded is set in the drive device 100, the program is installed from the recording medium 101 to the auxiliary storage device 102 via the drive device 100.

  The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed program and also stores necessary files and data. The memory device 103 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 102 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The arithmetic processing device 104 executes functions related to the print server 10 in accordance with a program stored in the memory device 103. The interface device 105 includes, for example, a modem, a router, etc., and is used for connecting to a network. The document management server 20 and the Web server 30 can have the same hardware configuration as that of the print server 10 shown in FIG.

  Next, details of the print service 11 in the print server 10 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of a print service in the print server. As shown in FIG. 5, the print service 11 includes a SOAP listener 111, a print request reception unit 112, a print instruction unit 113, a document application 114, a printer driver 115, a spooler 116, a port program 117, a printer control unit 118, and event monitoring. A unit 119, an asynchronous management unit 120, a document management connection unit 121, a print job queue 131, a job management file 132, and the like.

  The SOAP listener 111 is a module that provides a function for allowing a later-described method of the print request receiving unit 112 to be called from the Web server 30 or the like by SOAP RPC.

  The print request receiving unit 112 is a module in which a method for providing the function of the print service 11 is mounted. For example, the print request accepting unit 112 includes a print method for accepting a print request for document data, a job list obtaining method for accepting a print job list information acquisition request, and the like. By enabling the functions of the print service 11 to be called by SOAP RPC, the client-side implementation can be facilitated in the system construction in the Internet environment.

  The print instruction unit 113 is a module that instructs the document application 114 to print document data in response to a print request from the print method in the print request reception unit 112. However, the print instruction unit 113 does not immediately execute a print job when a print request is received from the print method. The print instruction unit 113 executes a print job asynchronously with the print request by using an asynchronous management unit 120 and a print job queue 131 described later.

  The asynchronous management unit 120 is a program for periodically prompting the print instruction unit 113 to execute a print job, and is activated as an independent process. The print job queue 131 temporarily stores information (hereinafter referred to as “job information”) that defines the contents of a print job included in a print request received from the print method by the print instruction unit 113. It is a file for. The document application 114 is an application used for generating and editing document data, and corresponds to various applications such as word processing software and spreadsheet software. The printer driver 115 is a so-called printer driver provided with a printer when the printer is purchased. The printer driver 115 is a module for converting document data into print data in a format that can be processed by the printer 50 serving as a printing destination.

  The spooler 116 is a so-called spooler provided by an OS (Operating System) such as Windows (registered trademark). The spooler 116 temporarily stores print data generated by the printer driver 115 and sequentially stores the stored print data. Output to program 117.

  The port program 117 corresponds to the positioning of a module generally called a port monitor. In the present embodiment, a port program 117 is used instead of the port monitor provided in advance by the OS. It has been. That is, a general port monitor has a function of outputting print data output from a spooler to a printer, but the port program 117 is not for the printer but for the printer control means 118. Implemented to output print data.

  In Windows (registered trademark), a function for setting a module that is uniquely implemented to be called by a spooler is provided instead of a port monitor provided in advance. The port program 117 may be called from the spooler 116 using such a function.

  The printer control unit 118 is a program that transmits the print data output from the port program 117 to the printer 50 and constantly monitors the status of print processing in the printer 50. The printer control unit 118 generates an event indicating that, for example, when the state of the printing process in the printer 50 changes. The event monitoring unit 119 is a program that executes processing (details will be described later) according to the type of the event based on the event generated by the printer control unit 118.

  The document management connection unit 15 is a module that provides an interface for calling the function of the document management unit 22 in the document management server 20 by SOAP RPC.

  The job management file 132 is a file for holding various types of information (job management information) related to the print job, and is generated for each print job when the print job occurs.

  Hereinafter, the processing procedure of the printing system 1 will be described. 6 to 8 are sequence diagrams for explaining document data printing processing in the printing system.

  In step S <b> 111, the user of the terminal 40 selects a plurality of document data to be printed (hereinafter referred to as “target data”) on the document list page displayed on the Web browser 41, and further performs print processing on the setting page. When a specified parameter (hereinafter referred to as “print parameter”) is set, the Web browser 41 transmits a print request for a plurality of target data to the Web server 30.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a document list page. The document list page 410 can be displayed on the web browser 41 by inputting the URL of the document list page 410 into the web browser 41. That is, when the Web browser 41 transmits a transmission request for the document list page 410 to the Web server 30 based on the URL input by the user, the Web application 32 of the Web server 30 passes through the document management unit 22 of the document management server 20. Thus, the document list information of the predetermined folder in the document management DB 23 is acquired. The Web application 32 generates a Web page (document list page 410) on which the acquired document data list information is posted. The document list page 410 generated by the web application 32 is transmitted to the terminal 40 by the httpd 31 and displayed on the web browser 41.

  In the document list page 410, each document data is displayed as a thumbnail in an area 411. Here, if a rectangular area where one document data is displayed is called a “cell”, each cell has a check button for selecting the document data, and a document data name (document name). Has a document name display area and an icon display area. For example, a cell in which document data with the document name “Document 3” is displayed includes a check button 413, a document name display area 414, and an icon display area 415.

  The user checks the check button corresponding to the document data to be printed (in FIG. 9, checks document 1 and document 2) and clicks the document output menu 412 to display a menu item “print” (not shown). ”Is selected, a setting page is displayed on the Web browser 41.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the setting page. The setting page 420 in FIG. 10 includes a target document display area 421 and a print parameter setting area 422. In the target document display area 421, a list of document names (document 1, document 2) of the target data selected as the print target on the document list page 410 is displayed. In the print parameter setting area 422, print parameters such as a printer to be printed, a document size, a print direction, and a print start position can be set.

  When the user sets print parameters on the setting page 420 and clicks the OK button 423, the Web browser 41 transmits the print request in step S11 described above to the Web server 30 with the print parameters.

  In step S112 following step S111, the web application 32 of the web server 30 transmits a SOAP message for calling the print method of the print request reception unit 112 of the print server 10 by SOAP RPC to the print server 10. The print server 10 is requested to print the target data.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message when a print method is called. In the SOAP message 710 in FIG. 11, the tag name “docPrintAsync” of the tag 711 is the method name of the print method. The description 712 is argument information. For example, a description 7121 surrounded by a <sessionId> tag is an argument in which a session ID of a session with the print server 10 is specified. Note that the session ID also includes information for specifying the user name related to the print request. A description 7122 surrounded by <jobName> tags is an argument in which the job name of the print job related to the print request is specified. A description 7123 surrounded by <printerName> tags is an argument in which the printer name of the printing destination is specified. A description 713 surrounded by a <documentList> tag is an argument in which a list of document data designated as a print target is designated. That is, a description 714 and a description 715 surrounded by <Document> tags respectively indicate information for specifying each document to be printed. For example, in the description 714, a description 7141 surrounded by <documentName> tags indicates the document name (“document 1”) of the document data. A description 7142 surrounded by <documentId> tags indicates the document Id (“1_2_1_3”) of the document data. A description 7143 enclosed in <repositoryUrl> indicates the URL of the document management service 24 from which the document data is acquired.

  Proceeding to step S113 following step S112, the print request receiving unit 112 of the print server 10 for which the print method has been called requests the print instruction unit 113 to print the target data. Progressing to step S114 following step S113, the print instructing unit 113 assigns one job ID, which is information for uniquely identifying a print job to be executed in response to the print request, to one print request. To do. Here, “001” is assigned as the job ID, and the print job with the job ID “001” is referred to as “print job 001”.

  Progressing to step S115 following step S114, the print instruction unit 113 generates a job management file 132 for storing job management information of the print job 001, and the initial job management information of the print job 001 is generated in the generated job management file 132. Registers the information specified in the print method argument as a value.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of job management information of a print job. As shown in FIG. 12, the job management information of the print job in this embodiment includes one parent job information 1321, child job information 1322 and 1323 for each document data to be printed in the print job. Consists of That is, the print instruction unit 113 includes a single print job including a parent job corresponding to a print request on a one-to-one basis and a child job corresponding to each document to be printed in the print job. These are managed by parent job information and child job information. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish between a parent job and a child job, the two are collectively referred to simply as “job”.

  The parent job information 1321 is information representing one parent job, and includes items such as a parent job ID, an array of child job IDs, a job name, a printer name, an array of target data acquisition destination URLs, a job status, and a user name. Consists of The parent job ID is the job ID of the print job numbered in step S114. The array of child job IDs is an array of job IDs (child job IDs) of child jobs belonging to the print job. The job name is the name of the print job. The printer name is the name of the printer designated as the output destination. The target data acquisition destination URL is an array of URLs of the document management service 24 specified as the acquisition destination of each target data. The job status is a character string indicating the job status of the parent job, and represents the print processing status for all the document data belonging to the parent job. The user name is the user name of the user who has requested printing.

  On the other hand, the child job information is information representing each child job, and includes a child job ID, a document Id, a document name, a job status, and the like. The child job ID is an ID for identifying each child job. That is, when registering job management information, the print instruction unit 113 assigns a child job ID for each document data to be printed, and registers the child job ID in the child job information. The document Id and the document name are the document Id or document name of the document data corresponding to the child job. The job status is a character string indicating the state of the printing process of the document data corresponding to the child job. As an initial value, “pending” indicating waiting is registered.

  As described above, in the print server 10 according to the present embodiment, immediately after receiving a print request, the print processing state is managed independently for each document data to be printed in the print request. Further, the parent job information and the child job information based on the same print request are associated by being stored in the same job management file 132. However, this association may be performed by other methods. For example, the parent job information and each child job information may be stored in separate job management files 132, and the file name of the job management file 132 in which each child job information is stored may be registered in the parent job information. .

  In step S116 following step S115, the print instruction unit 113 associates the parent job ID with the identification information (for example, the file name) of the job management file 132 of the print job in order to manage the standby print job. Are registered in the print job queue 131.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of job information in the print job queue. As shown in FIG. 13, the job information 1310 includes a parent job ID, a job management file name, and the like. Job information 1310 is managed in the print job queue 131 for each print job for which print processing has not started.

  Progressing to step S117 following step S116, the print instructing unit 113 outputs the parent job ID to the print request receiving unit 112 without executing the printing process here. Proceeding to step S118 following step S117, the print request receiving unit 112 transmits a SOAP message including a parent job ID, a child job ID, and the like as print method return information to the web application 32.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message including print method return information. In the SOAP message 720 of FIG. 14, a description 721 surrounded by <returnValue> tags is a return value of the print method, and “0” indicates that it has been processed normally. In the description 722, the parent job ID of the print job generated in response to the print request is included as return information. Furthermore, a description 723 surrounded by <subJobIds> tags includes a list of child job IDs as return information. That is, a description 7231 and a description 7232 each surrounded by <item> tags indicate each child job ID.

  The parent job ID and child job ID returned in the SOAP message 720 are stored for each user in the web server 30 by the web application 32, and when the web application 32 acquires print job list information (described later). Etc.).

  Progressing to step S119 following step S118, the web application 32 displays a web page (hereinafter referred to as “response page”) indicating that the print request has been accepted as a response to the print request via the httpd 31. Send to. The response page is displayed by the Web browser 41, and the user can confirm that the print request has been received normally.

  On the other hand, in the print server 10, the asynchronous management unit 120 periodically urges the print instruction unit 113 to execute a print job (S120). In response to the call from the asynchronous management unit 120, the print instruction unit 113 refers to the print job queue 131 to determine whether or not the job information 1310 is registered in the print job queue 131, that is, there is a waiting print job. It is confirmed whether or not to perform (S121).

  If the job information 1310 is registered in the print job queue 131, the process advances to step S122, and the print instruction unit 113 identifies the job management file 132 of the print job from the job management file name in the job information 1310, and The parent job information 1321 in the job management file 132 and one child job information (hereinafter referred to as “current child job information”, and the child job related to the current child job information is referred to as “current child job”) are acquired, and the current child The job is set as a processing target, and the job status value of the current child job information in the job management file 132 is updated to “processing” indicating that the printing process is being performed (S122). Here, the print instruction unit 113 does not process child jobs whose job status in the child job information is other than “pending”. Therefore, for example, a print process is not executed for a child job that has been canceled due to a print process cancel instruction, which will be described later.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of job management information in the job management file in which the job status of the child job is updated to processing. As shown in FIG. 15, the job status value in the child job information 1322 is updated from “pending” to “processing”.

  In step S122, the process proceeds to step S123, where the print instruction unit 113 receives the "" of the current child job information from the document management unit 22 of the document management service 24 specified by the "array of target data acquisition destination URL" in the parent job information 1321. In order to acquire the target data specified by “Document Id”, the session management method of the document management unit 22 is called by SOAP RPC, thereby requesting the document management unit 22 to establish a session.

  Proceeding to step S124 following step S123, the document management unit 22 establishes a session with the print instruction unit 113, and provides the print instruction unit 113 with a session ID that uniquely identifies the session as a return value of the session establishment method. To send. (S125).

  In step S126 following step S125, the print instruction unit 113 requests the document management unit 22 to transmit the target data by calling the document acquisition method of the document management unit 22. Note that the document Id is specified as information for specifying the target data in the argument of the document acquisition method. The document management unit 22 retrieves the target data from the document management DB 23 (S127), and transmits the target data to the print instruction unit 113 (S128).

  Progressing to step S129 (FIG. 7) following step S128, the print instruction unit 113 requests the document application 114 corresponding to the type of the target data acquired from the document management server 20 to print the target data. When the document application 114 requests the printer driver 115 to print the target data (S130), the printer driver 115 converts the target data into print data and saves the print data in a predetermined folder (S131). When the print data is stored, control of the process returns to the print instruction unit 113 via the document application 114 (S132, S133).

  Proceeding to step S134 following step S133, the print instructing unit 113 acquires the temporarily stored print data, and outputs the print data to the spooler 116, thereby issuing a print request to the spooler 116. Do. In step S135 following step S134, the spooler 116 makes a response to the print request to the print instruction unit 113. As is well known, the spooler 116 executes the printing process asynchronously with respect to the print request, so the response in step S135 is performed before the printing process (S138) described later is executed.

  The processing from step S122 to step S135 is repeated by the number of child jobs, that is, the number of document data to be printed in the print job (S136). Therefore, each time the process is repeated, the job status in the child job information of each child job is updated to processing, and when the job statuses of all child jobs are updated to processing, the job status in the parent job information 1321 is changed to processing. Updated. That is, the job status of the parent job is updated to a value indicating the corresponding stage when the job statuses of all child jobs are updated to a value indicating the same stage.

  When the processing from step S122 to step S135 is completed for all child jobs whose job status is “pending”, control of the processing returns from the print instruction unit 113 to the asynchronous management unit 14, and the asynchronous management unit 14 in step S120. The process started by is finished (S137).

  On the other hand, the spooler 116 to which print data is input for each child job issues a print data print request for one child job to the port program 117 asynchronously with the request from the print instruction unit 113 (S138). Progressing to step S 139 following step S 138, the port program 117 executes “executing” indicating that the printer 50 is processing the job status value of the child job information for the one child job in the job management file 132. Update to Strictly speaking, the processing in the printer 50 is not started at this timing. However, as will be described later, since a print request is made to the printer 50 immediately after this, in this embodiment, the job is processed at this timing. The status value is updated to “executing”.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of job management information in the job management file in which the job status of the child job is updated to executing. As shown in FIG. 16, the value of the job status in the child job information 1322 is updated from “processing” to “executing”.

  The processes in steps S138 and S139 are repeated by the number of child jobs (S140). Accordingly, each time the process is repeated, the job status in the child job information of each child job is updated to “executing”, and the job status of all the child jobs is updated to “executing”. The job status is updated to “executing”.

  When the processes of step S138 and step S139 are completed for all the child jobs, the process proceeds to step S141 (FIG. 8), and the port program 117 issues a print request to the printer control unit 118. Progressing to step S142 following step S141, the printer control means 118 transmits print data to the printer 50 and requests printing of the print data. The printer 50 receives a print request, and assigns an ID (equipment job ID) for uniquely identifying a job (hereinafter referred to as “device job”) executed in the printer 50 in response to the print request. The device job ID is transmitted to the printer control means 118 (S143). The device job ID is further output from the printer control means 118 to the port program 117 (S144). On the other hand, the printer 50 that has received the print request executes a print process of the device job, that is, the print data at a predetermined timing (S146).

  Note that the processing from step S141 to step S144 is repeated by the number of child jobs (S140). Accordingly, the print data relating to each child job is sequentially transmitted to the printer 50, and printing by the printer 50 is executed for each print data (S146).

  After notifying the port job 117 of the device job ID (S144), the printer control unit 118 inquires of the printer 50 about the status of print processing relating to each child job (S43). This inquiry is repeated until the printing process in the printer 50 is completed. In this embodiment, “complete” of the printing process is not only a state in which the printing process has been normally completed, but also a process in which no operation is performed by the user, such as a suspended state or a suspended state. It also means a state that does not resume.

  When the status of the printing process is returned from the printer 50 (S148), the printer control means 118 generates an event indicating the status of the printing process in the printer 50. The event is detected by the event monitoring unit 119 (S149). Along with the event, the event monitoring unit 119 is notified of the child job ID and device job ID of the child job.

  Here, as a specific method for mounting an event, for example, as a first method, the printer control unit 118 generates a signal used as a kind of interprocess communication in a UNIX (registered trademark) OS or the like. It may be. In this case, the event monitoring unit 119 may be mounted so that the signal can be fetched.

  As a second method, the printer control unit 118 may output the print processing status to a predetermined file. In this case, the event monitoring unit 119 may be mounted so as to monitor the update of the predetermined file by polling or the like.

  Further, as a third method, the printer control unit 118 may call a predetermined method of the event monitoring unit 119.

  Proceeding to step S150 following step S149, the event monitoring unit 119 sets the job status value in the job management file 132 for the child job notified of the print processing status according to the content of the event generated by the printer control unit 118. Update. For example, when the event indicates that the printing process has been normally completed, the event monitoring unit 119 updates the value of the job status to “completed”. Further, when the event indicates that the printing process is stopped due to the occurrence of an error, the event monitoring unit 119 updates the value of the job status to “aborted”. When the event indicates that the printing process is interrupted due to the occurrence of an error, the event monitoring unit 119 updates the job status value to “stopped-error”.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of job management information in the job management file in which the job status of the child job is updated to completed. As shown in FIG. 17, the job status value in the child job information 1322 is updated from “executing” to “completed”.

  The processing from step S147 to step S150 is repeated for the number of child jobs. Therefore, each time the process is repeated, the job status in the child job information of each child job is updated to “completed”, and the job status of all the child jobs is updated to “completed”. The job status is updated to “completed”. This completes the printing process based on the print request.

  Next, processing when the terminal 40 requests the Web server 30 to provide print job list information (hereinafter referred to as “job list”) will be described. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram for explaining the job list providing process.

  In step S <b> 201, when the user inputs the URL of a Web page (hereinafter referred to as “job list page”) that displays print job list information in the print server 10, the Web browser 41 displays the Web server 30. Is requested to send a job list page. Progressing to step S202 following step S201, the Web application 32 prints by sending a SOAP message for calling the job list acquisition method of the print request reception unit 112 of the print server 10 by SOAP RPC to the print server 10. It requests the print server 10 to provide job list information.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message when calling a job list acquisition method. In the SOAP message 730 of FIG. 19, “getJobList” that is the tag name of the tag 731 is the method name of the job list acquisition method. The description 732 is argument information. For example, a description 7321 surrounded by <fromId> tags is an argument in which a parent job ID as a starting point is specified among print jobs to be listed information. That is, in the print server 10, a plurality of print jobs are managed in a predetermined order (for example, the order in which print requests are made), and a print job that is the starting point is designated in that order. When calling the job list acquisition method for the first time, nothing is specified for this argument.

  A description 7322 surrounded by <jobCount> tags is an argument in which the number of print jobs to be listed information is specified. A description 7323 surrounded by the <jobType> tag is an argument that specifies whether only the parent job or the child job is targeted. For example, “Parent” is designated in the former case, and “Subjob” is designated in the latter case. Whether the description 7324 enclosed in the <jobStatus> tag is for only completed jobs (Completed), only for incomplete jobs (NotCompleted), or for all jobs (ALL) is the designated argument. The description 7325 surrounded by the <order> tag is an argument that specifies whether the job is acquired in descending order (Descend) or acquired in ascending order (Ascend) from the starting job. A description 7326 surrounded by <maskType> tags is an argument that specifies whether only the job of the user (current user) is targeted (MyJob) or whether all jobs are targeted (All).

  Progressing to step S203 following step S202, the print request receiving means 112 for which the job list acquisition method is called from the job management file 132 of each print job that is the target of the list information in the input argument of the job list acquisition method. Get job management information. Each acquired job management information is transmitted to the Web application 32 as return information of a job list acquisition method (S204).

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message including return information of the job list acquisition method. In the SOAP message 740 of FIG. 20, a description 741 surrounded by <jobList> tags includes print job list information. That is, the information acquired from the job management file 132 is included for each print job in the description 742 and the description 743 each surrounded by <item> tags.

  For example, in the description 742, a description 7421 surrounded by <jobId> tags indicates the parent job Id. A description 7422 surrounded by <jobStatus> tags indicates the job status of the parent job. A description 7423 surrounded by <jobName> tags indicates the job name of the parent job. A description 7424 surrounded by a <userName> tag indicates the user name of the user who requested the print job. A description 7425 enclosed by <subJobCount> tags indicates the number of child jobs, and a description 744 enclosed by <subJobList> tags includes a list of child job information. In other words, the description 745 and the description 746 surrounded by <item> tags respectively include child job information for each child job.

  For example, in the description 745, a description 7451 surrounded by <jobId> tags indicates a child job ID. A description 7452 surrounded by <jobName> tags indicates the job name of the child job. A description 7453 surrounded by <jobStatus> tags indicates the job status of the child job.

  As described above, the processing from step S202 to step S204 is repeated until information of all jobs to be listed is acquired (S205).

  In step S206, the web application 32 generates a job list page based on the information acquired by calling the job list acquisition method (S206), and transmits the generated job list page to the web browser 41 (S207). . The job list page 41 is displayed by the web browser 41.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a job list page. As shown in FIG. 21, the job list page 430 includes a job list display area 431, a button 432, a button 433, and the like. In the job list display area 431, a column 431b is a column in which a list of job names of parent jobs is displayed. The column 431d is a column in which a list of document names of document data to be printed in each print job, that is, a list of document names of document data related to each child job is displayed. A column 431e and a column 431f are columns in which the user name related to each child job or the job status of each child job is displayed. As described above, even when the user makes a print request for a plurality of document data as print targets, not only the print job unit corresponding to the print request but also each job for each document data to be printed. You can check the status.

  Buttons 432 and 433 are buttons for designating operations for jobs such as job cancellation or job suspension for each parent job or child job. The job to be operated can be designated by check buttons arranged in the columns 431a and 431c in the job list display area 431.

  If no operation is required for each parent job, the job list page may be configured as shown in FIG. 22, for example. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing another display example of the job list page. The job list display area 441 on the job list page 440 in FIG. 22 does not have columns corresponding to the columns 431a and 431b in FIG. Therefore, although the operation cannot be performed in units of parent jobs, the effect that the job status can be confirmed and the job can be operated for each document data (each child job) is the same as that of the job list page 430 in FIG.

  Hereinafter, in the job list page 430 in FIG. 21, when one of the check buttons in the column 431a or the column 431c is checked and the button 432 is clicked, that is, a job cancellation is requested in units of print jobs or child jobs. The processing when this is done will be described. FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram for explaining job cancellation processing.

  When the user selects a job to be canceled by checking a check button for any parent job or child job on the job list page 430 and clicks the button 432, the Web browser 41 displays the Web application 32. An HTTP request for requesting job cancellation is transmitted (S301). In step S302 following step S301, the Web application 32 transmits a SOAP message for calling the cancel method in the print request reception unit 112 by SOAP RPC to the print server 10, thereby canceling the job cancellation. To request.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message when calling a cancel method. In the SOAP message 750 of FIG. 24, “cancelJob” which is the tag name of the tag 751 is the method name of the cancel method. The description 752 is argument information. For example, a description 7521 surrounded by <jobId> tags is an argument in which the parent job ID of the parent job to be canceled is specified. A description 7522 surrounded by the <subjobId> tag is an argument in which the child job ID of the child job to be canceled is specified. Note that when the cancel target is specified in parent job units, the value of the child job ID is not specified.

  Progressing to step S303 following step S302, the print request receiving means 112 that has been called the cancel method executes the processing implemented in the cancel method. FIG. 25 is a flowchart for explaining processing in the cancel method.

  First, the print request receiving unit 112 determines whether or not the job to be canceled is a parent job (S501). This determination can be made based on whether or not a child job ID is specified as an argument of the cancel method. If the cancel target is a parent job, all the child jobs belonging to the parent job are confirmed by referring to the corresponding job management file 132, and a cancel process (S503) described later for all the child jobs. After repeating S506), the value of the job status of the parent job in the job management file 132 is updated to “canceled”.

  On the other hand, when the job to be canceled is a child job, the print request receiving unit 112 checks the job status of the child job by referring to the corresponding job management file 132 (S503), and the job Cancel processing corresponding to the status is executed (S504 to S506).

  In other words, when the job status is “pending”, the print request receiving unit 112 sets the job status value in the job management file 132 to “canceled” (cancel), thereby canceling the target job (S504). ). This is because the print instructing unit 113 does not perform print processing for a print job whose job status value is “canceled” as described above.

  When the job status is processing or executing, the print request receiving unit 112 instructs the spooler 116 or the printer control unit 118 to cancel the job (API call, etc.) (S505, S506), and job management By setting the job status value of the target job in the file 132 to “canceled”, the cancellation of the target job is realized.

  Returning to FIG. In step S <b> 304, the print request reception unit 112 transmits a SOAP message including information indicating success / failure of the cancel process to the Web application 32 as return information of the cancel method.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a SOAP message including return information of a cancel method. In the SOAP message 760 of FIG. 26, a description 741 surrounded by <returnValue> tags is a return value of the cancel method, and “0” indicates that the cancel process has been executed normally.

  Proceeding to step S305 following step S304, if the cancellation is executed normally, the web application 32 generates a job list page 430 in which the line of the canceled job is deleted. The generated job list page 430 is transmitted to the web browser 41 and displayed by the web browser 41. This completes the job cancellation process.

  As described above, according to the print server 10 in the present embodiment, even when the user makes a print request for a plurality of document data managed in the document management server 20, the document data In addition, job status can be confirmed and job operations can be performed. In particular, since operations can be performed for each document data even before a job is submitted to the spooler, operations such as job cancellation can be performed for each document data immediately after a print request is made.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

It is a figure for demonstrating the printing process in the conventional document management system. It is a figure which shows the job list obtained by the conventional client side. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the print server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of the print service in a print server. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining document data printing processing in the printing system. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining document data printing processing in the printing system. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining document data printing processing in the printing system. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a document list page. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a setting page. It is a figure which shows the example of a SOAP message when calling a printing method. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of job management information of a print job. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of job information in a print job queue. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the SOAP message containing the return information of a printing method. It is a figure which shows the example of the job management information in the job management file with which the job status of the child job was updated to processing. It is a figure which shows the example of the job management information in the job management file with which the job status of the child job was updated to executing. It is a figure which shows the example of the job management information in the job management file with which the job status of the child job was updated to completed. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining job list provision processing; It is a figure which shows the example of a SOAP message when calling a job list acquisition method. It is a figure which shows the example of the SOAP message containing the return information of a job list acquisition method. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a job list page. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another display example of a job list page. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining job cancellation processing; It is a figure which shows the example of a SOAP message when calling a cancellation method. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process in a cancellation method. It is a figure which shows the example of the SOAP message containing the return information of a cancellation method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system 10 Print server 11 Print service 20 Document management server 21 SOAP listener 22 Document management means 23 Document management DB
24 Document management service 30 Web server 31 httpd
32 Web application 33 SOAP proxy 40 Terminal 41 Web browser 50 Printer 100 Drive device 101 Recording medium 102 Auxiliary storage device 103 Memory device 104 Arithmetic processing device 105 Interface device 111 SOAP listener 112 Print request reception means 113 Print instruction means 114 Document application 115 Printer Driver 116 Spooler 117 Port program 118 Printer control means 119 Event monitoring means 120 Asynchronous management means 121 Document management connection means 122 SOAP proxy 132 Job management file B bus

Claims (18)

A print processing apparatus that converts a print target requested to be printed in the print request according to a print request received via a network into print data, and causes the image forming apparatus to print the print data.
Management information generating means for generating management information for managing the first status information of the printing process for each printing target in response to a printing request related to a plurality of printing targets;
Updating means for updating the first status information in the management information for each printing object according to the stage of the printing process;
An information providing unit that provides the first status information for each print target in the management information via the network. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management information generation unit generates the management information at least before the print target is converted into the print data. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management information is managed in association with the first status information of the print target related to the same print request. The print processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the providing unit provides the first status information of the print target related to the same print request in association with each other. The management information further manages second status information of print processing for each print request,
The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the update information updates the second status information according to a stage of the print processing. The update unit updates the second status information to a value indicating the level when the first status information of all the print targets related to the same print request is updated to a value indicating the same level. The print processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The information providing unit according to claim 1, wherein the information providing unit receives a first operation request for a print process for each print target, and performs a process corresponding to the first operation request for the print process. The print processing apparatus according to one item. 8. The information providing unit according to claim 7, wherein the process according to the first operation request is determined according to a value of the first status information of the print target related to the first operation request. The printing processing apparatus as described. The information providing means receives a second operation request for a print process for each print request, and sets the second operation request for all print processes to be printed in the print request related to the second operation request. The print processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a process corresponding to the print job is executed. The print processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition unit configured to acquire the print target specified in the print request from an information processing apparatus connected via a network. According to a print request received via a network, a print processing method in a print processing apparatus that converts a print target requested to be printed in the print request into print data and causes the image forming apparatus to print the print data,
A management information generation procedure for generating management information for managing the first status information of the print process for each of the print targets in response to a print request for a plurality of print targets;
An update procedure for updating the first status information in the management information for each print target according to the stage of the printing process;
An information providing procedure for providing the first status information for each print target in the management information via the network. 12. The print processing method according to claim 11, wherein the management information generation procedure is executed at least before the print target is converted into the print data. 13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising a first operation procedure for receiving a first operation request for a print process for each print target and performing a process corresponding to the first operation request for the print process. The printing processing method as described. The first operation procedure is characterized in that a process according to the first operation request is determined according to a value of the first status information of the print target related to the first operation request. Item 14. The print processing method according to Item 13. A second operation request for a print process for each print request is received, and a process corresponding to the second operation request is executed for all print processes of the print target in the print request related to the second operation request. The print processing method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising a second operation procedure. 16. The print processing method according to claim 11, further comprising an acquisition procedure for acquiring the print target specified in the print request from an information processing apparatus connected via a network. In response to a print request received via a network, a print processing apparatus that converts a print target requested to be printed in the print request into print data and causes the image forming apparatus to print the print data.
A management information generation procedure for generating management information for managing the first status information of the print process for each of the print targets in response to a print request for a plurality of print targets;
An update procedure for updating the first status information in the management information for each print target according to the stage of the printing process;
A print processing program for executing an information provision procedure for providing the first status information for each print target in the management information via the network. A computer-readable recording medium on which the print processing program according to claim 17 is recorded.

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